Sail Away With Me

When I think of summer, I always think of water. My family typically went to the beach during summer holidays, so I guess it's only natural that my mind wanders there. I created this card for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge which is all about summer and for the Addicted to CAS Challenge. Their code word this week is "splash." I immediately thought about ships and water, so I thought it was only natural to combine the two.

I used two separate stamp sets for this card: Ahoy Me Hearty from Paper Smooches and Sailing from Simon Says Stamp. I just love the pirate ship image from Paper Smooches, so I stamped it in black and then cut it out with a Stitched Circle die to make it look like I was looking through a telescope. I stamped the waves image onto vellum and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I colored the back of the image with copics to give it that transparent blue look. The sentiment was simply stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in white embossing powder. I cut a small heart with a die and then added glossy accents over the top. I didn't think this one needed any more embellishment than that!

Supplies:
Stamps: Ahoy Me Hearty (Paper Smooches), Sailing (Simon Says Stamp)
Dies: Stitched Circles and Mini Hearts Set (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Real Red
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Copic B15 Aqua
Other: White Embossing Powder, Glossy Accents

Missing You

The Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge has a gorgeous inspiration photo this time around and I couldn't help but play along.

I've always loved rainbows. They've always fascinated me because they're just a little bit magical. Even though I know how they're formed now (refracted light and all that), they still hold just a little bit of wonder.

I went traditional with this card and created an actual rainbow. I used Simon Says Stamps Stitched Circle dies and then cut them in half after nesting them together. Instead of having clouds at the end of the rainbow, I used a white sentiment strip to mimic it. I kept it simple with just a few sequins this time.

While I'm at it, I'm going to go ahead and enter this card into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge as well. I love Anything Goes week! I'm also going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge which has the theme of Summer.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sending and Wishing (Simon Says Stamp)
Dies: Stitched Circles and Wishing (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red, Tangelo Twist, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Tempting Turquoise, Elegant Eggplant, Silver Foiled paper (Jo-Ann)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: Sparkling Clear Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

ShowCASe Your Style #18

I'm playing along with the ShowCASe Your Style Challenge today. I actually made 2 cards, but I definitely felt like their was a clear winner between the two. I'll show them both to you, but I'm only entering the first one. I'm also going to enter it into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes!

I used the Tiny Spaced Hearts stencil from Simon Says Stamp to ink up my ombre background. The sentiment and image are from Mama Elephant's Ella and Friends. The sentiment is heat embossed with white embossing powder. I'm just loving this one. Super sweet and I think it'll be perfect for a friend of mine who recently had a baby.

Supplies:
Stamps: Ella and Friends (Mama Elephant)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp), Ella and Friends (Mama Elephant)
Paper: Lost Lagoon, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Island Indigo, Lost Lagoon, Bermuda Bay, Assorted Copics
Other: White embossing powder, Sparkling Clear Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

The first card I made was definitely a fail. We can't be happy with everything we make all the time. This is the perfect instance of that.

Don't get me wrong, it's cute. I'll probably keep it and use it later, but I just love the other card so much more. It just has that extra oomph that's missing in this one.

Supplies:
Stamps: Monster Mash (Lawn Fawn), Jessie's ABC's (Lawn Fawn), Falling Hearts (Simon Says Stamp)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp), Monster Mash (Lawn Fawn)
Paper: Whisper White, Lost Lagoon, Basic Black
Ink: Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Fog (Simon Says Stamp), Assorted Copics
Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Sparkling Clear Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Sweet Birthday Wishes

I'm usually pretty quiet on the political front, but I have to do a little happy dance today. It's now legal for all of my friends to marry the person they love. I think that's cause for celebration. Regardless of how you fall on the issue, I think we could all use a little more love in this world.

On that note, I made a quick and simple birthday card. I simply stamped the cupcakes from Lawn Fawn's Baked With Love set in a line across my panel and then colored them with copics. I added the sentiment at the top and finished it off with some Wink of Stella on the frosting and some sequins. Easy-peasy, but it definitely has an impact.

I'm entering this card into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for Anything Goes this week!

Supplies:
Stamps: Baked with Love (Lawn Fawn)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Assorted Copics
Other: Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Clear Wink of Stella

Ahoy, Matey!

Paper Smooches has a new challenge up on their Sparks Blog and it's one of my favorites: Anything Goes! I was thinking of making pirate themed cards for my twin nephews for their birthday, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity.

I used the Ahoy Me Hearty set and stamped the front panel randomly in Baked Brown Sugar on Kraft paper. I die cut a Stitched Circle from the top 2/3 of the panel and then stamped the image of the parrot through the hole so I was sure it would be in the correct position when I assembled my card. The parrot was colored with copics and I added some fun, colorful sequins for the shaker parts. I heat embossed the sentiment on black paper and drew in the faux stitching with a gel pen.

A little close up of the shaker portion and the coloring. I'm really loving this stamp set. I think I'll make another card like this for my other nephew featuring the ship in the shaker portion.

Supplies:
Stamps: Ahoy Me Hearty (Paper Smooches)
Dies: Stitched Circles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Baked Brown Sugar, Assorted Copics
Other: White embossing powder, Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Stinkin' Cute!

Today's card is for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. I'm also entering it into the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge. The Monday Challenge is to use a spray mist and a stamp. The Flickr Challenge is to use embossing. I combined both of them by stamping a background stamp in Versamark and then heat embossing it with white embossing powder. I created a wash of color over the embossing by spritzing a spray mist over the top and letting it run down the paper. When it dried, it created a beautiful ombre effect.

I stamped the umbrella from Abby's Spring Showers and the Skunk from Stinkin' Cute and then colored them with copics. I die cut the umbrella, but had to fussy cut the skunk (boo, no matching die!). I stamped the first part of the sentiment directly onto the watercolor paper, but then heat embossed the second part on a piece of black paper to make it pop.

Supplies:
Stamps: Stinkin' Cute, Abby's Spring Showers, Falling Hearts (Simon Says Stamp)
Dies: Abby's Spring Showers, Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Strathmore Watercolor
Ink: Versamark, Black Licorice (Lawn Fawn), Memento Tuxedo Black, Raspberry Ripple (Reinker for the spray mist), Assorted Copics
Other: White embossing powder, Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

The Challenge #39

There's an inspiration photo over at The Challenge and it was one that I couldn't resist. I was having trouble putting together a card though. It felt like every idea I had kept falling flat during execution. I took a step back and decided that I was simply trying too hard. I was just adding too much to it. So I took a deep breath and re-imagined my original concept.

My original design had a ton of die cut leaves and foliage. I had sequins and all sorts of embellishments. It was just way too busy. So I went back to basics and did some simple stamping.

 

I attempted using chalk ink at first, but it just wasn't giving me the results that I wanted. I decided that I needed to go a little bolder, so I heat embossed my image on my "blackboard" instead. I really like it like this; it definitely draws your eye! I used WPlus9's Fresh Cut Florals to stamp my foliage behind my blackboard. I love using inspiration photos. These are elements that I never would have put together by myself, but I do like how it turned out. I find myself trying new things whenever I'm looking at a picture, so it's definitely one of my favorite types of challenges!

Supplies:

Stamps: Oolong (Sweet Stamp Shop), Fresh Cut Florals (WPlus9)

Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, Basic Black

Ink: Blushing Bride, Wild Wasabi, Gumball Green, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight, Hello Honey, Versamark, Wild Rose (Lawn Fawn)

Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)

Other: White embossing powder